Got more soul then a sock with a hole

bonjour internet. I'm in a bit of an old man phase so I'm going to follow up my post on vinyl with a post about radio. I love the radio. It starts me off every morning and tells me everything I need to know; news, weather, entertainment, everything. The morning announcers have become so familiar to me that it's almost as if they are in my house with me just having a nice conversation about what's going on. I especially love the programs on the CBC. My favorite program has to be the Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Vinyl Cafe it's a radio show that happens every Sunday. The show has Stuart McLean telling stories about Dave, owner of a second hand record store, and Dave's wife, Morley, their two children, Sam and Stephanie, and assorted friends and neighbors. I can't really explain it much more then that you really have to listen yourself to understand it in it's full glory. Other programs I enjoy are Age of Persuasion, (A show about advertising and the work that goes into making it) GO! (A live radio show with games, music and other random fun) Q (a Talk show hosted by Jian Ghomeshi) Vinyl Tap (A show hosted by Randy Bachman where he talks music and stories) and a whole bunch more CBC shows.
The only problem I really have with the radio is that I'm not always the one controlling the dials. Here in Halifax there are three different pop stations. Z103, 101.3 (The Bounce) and C100. This means that anyone who has access to a radio probably will pick one of those three stations considering no one my age really enjoys talk radio or classic rock. I'm going to use this to segway into an anger fueled rant about pop music today so if you're someone who likes that kinda music and would like to remain blissfully unaware of how crappy it is skip this next paragraph. Otherwise read on.

First off I'd like to start with auto-tune. Auto-tune started as a little program to fix little pitch errors in singers and what not. It wasn't used as an effect until Cher came out with a song called Believe. Nowadays there are people like T-Pain who are apparently big fans of how Cher sounds and use it in hip hop songs. To me this takes away all artistic credibility from artists who barely had any in the first place. I mean these people barely have any lyrical abilities since all they rap about is money and the things that come with it and now it's not even their voice. I love hip hop but it's getting to the point where with auto tune no artist is unique. T-Pain and I would sound almost identical with auto-tune so what's stopping me from taking his place? The answer to that is image. T-Pain looks like a rap star I'm just a little white kid, which brings me to my next point. Image should have nothing to do with musicians. Lots of musicians are ugly, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones and those are some of the biggest names in music history. Which leads me to one of my least favorite names in pop music Lady Gaga. For some reason Lady Gaga is viewed as this "visionary" and so "unique" I suspect it's because she dresses so strangely. That's all well and fine cause I don't know anything about fashion but I do know that she shouldn't be viewed as a good musician with lines like "let's have some fun/this beat is sick/ I wanna take a ride on your disco stick" and that's disregarding her "lyrics" that aren't even real words. In my opinion she should stick with fashion and get out of music. By far my least favorite thing about pop music today is one specific song. It's called sexy chick. In this song Akon says "I don't know how to describe this girl without being disrespectful" excuse my Caps but ARE YOU KIDDING ME! This is literally saying that Akon cannot call a girl beautiful or pretty or anything even close to that because all the things he calls girls are words like hoe and bitch. This song is extremely popular and I have to ask any girl reading this would you enjoy dating or being with a guy who doesn't know how to say you look good without calling you a demeaning word? No of course not but there are a lot of girls who mindlessly listen to this making it more and more popular. I'd be pissed if I were a girl and this guy was putting women down like that on such a massive level.

I'd like to apologize for the anger in that post it's just I'm forced to listen to the radio at work and I needed to vent it out.
To make up for it I'd like to unveil on the blog for the first time the Old Shug Film Co.! That's right Brendan and I (plus Jenna and Rob who are friends of ours) have started making short films here is a link to some of the ones we have made so far. There are two now but a third will be up soon. Enjoy!

I know I used caps lock earlier but just know it's not your fault and I still love you
-Grant

The Crowd Gets Caught like a Needle in a Groove.

Frequent readers of The Old Shug know that I'm an avid collector of vinyl records. I know a lot of people think that vinyl is a dead platform and that it doesn't stand up to the convenience and quality of digital music, but I honestly believe that if you listen to the same album on vinyl and CD you will have a much better experience with the vinyl copy. There are a few reasons that cause me to think this. I'll start out with the act of buying the album.

If you are shopping for an album on CD then you go into a store with thousands of CD's and DVD's and you find a CD that you want to buy. But, before you make the purchase you want to know about it a little more just to be safe. So you ask an employee. Now I've generally had some pretty knowledgeable people working at the major CD stores but every once in a while you'll have someone who has no idea about the music and see's working at the store as just another retail job. Now, on the other hand if you're buying the album on vinyl you walk into the store that is filled with records and CD's you flip through the milk crates until you find that album you're looking for. You pull it out and you have this amazing 12 3/4 x 12 3/4 inch piece of art. At most record stores you'll only find one person working but you'll find this one person has an incredible amount of knowledge so when you ask him or her about the album they almost always can tell you something about it because if they sell records you know they have a passion for the music and it's not just a retail job for them.

So now you have the album and you're at home ready to open it. I'll admit that I get just as satisfied peeling off the plastic on a new CD as I do a new LP, but opening the two is a different story. When opening a CD there generally aren't any surprises unless it has an ad in it for other new CD's from that label. Opening a new vinyl record, on the other hand, can come with any number of surprises such as, posters, stickers, or in the case of many new records a digital download or a CD copy of the record.

Now... for the best part of all... Listening to the record. With the CD there are two different ways of going about this. You can either put it in a CD player, or do what most people do now-a-days which is upload it on their computers and putting it on their MP3 players. Then when all that is done you can put on/in your head/earphones and finally hit play. The main problem with this is that, with the whole portable aspect of my iPod, I end up doing something else and not focusing on my album. The vinyl copy is much more satisfying to me because once you have it opened you can take out the inner sleeve and slip the record out. Now you have this physical object that you can hold, and if you run your fingers along the grooves you can literally feel the music. Now for the moment you've been waiting for, you gently put the record on the platter and drop the needle. As soon as the needle catches you get this warm, genuine sound coming out of your speakers which keeps you hooked until the very end of the record which you now can enjoy as an experience instead of just a collection of songs.

Some of you might think that even though all that is nice and good don't CD's have better quality then records? Well, that's actually not necessarily true. Vinyl records are recorded in analog which means that it reflects the sound waves in one constant stream. Cd's are digital which is more like taking little "snapshots" of the sound. This causes a lot of sound to be lost in the final product of the recording which ends up giving CD's a more dull, flat sound compared to vinyl. (More info)

One of the biggest reasons I prefer vinyl is not a matter of personal taste or enjoyment, but a matter of respect for the artist. Vinyl ensures that you listen to the whole record and not just the singles or the songs that you've already heard. There is no skip button on a record player so you have to hear the whole record just the way that the artists made it and recorded it and just in case you do get distracted there are two sides on a record so you have to flip it which will get you right back into it.

I understand that maybe there are people reading this who aren't quite ready to make the jump all the way back to vinyl but if you liked this article I ask that instead of downloading single mislabeled songs off limewire you go to your local CD store and buy a whole CD instead to support the artists because that's what it all comes down too. We need to support the people making the music we like so that they can keep making new music for people to enjoy. and you never know, maybe someday you'll be at a yard sale and you'll pick up a record player for a couple bucks and join me and my fellow audiophiles.

Thanks for listening, keep on spinning

-Grant

Pat LePoidevin Live @ Waterfront Campus

...yes another music review.
The other night I saw Pat LePoidevin play an acoustic show at the NSCC waterfront campus. I was blown away. Pat, accompanied by his good friend on drums, created a melodic mountain-folk sound using a variety of stringed instruments. LePoidevin used a looper pedal to build a fusion of self-harmonies that sounded more like a full band then a solo musician. His songwriting painted a beautiful scenery of the north-american wilderness in a simpler time. After the show I bought his new album "Moon Wolves" and now I can't stop listening to it. If you enjoy Fleet Foxes you will enjoy this man's music.

Here's a link to his myspace http://www.myspace.com/patlepoidevin
Shine on,
-Brendan

Gloryhound - Leave It Alone

"They traded in the Plaid shirts for Leather Jackets"
Gloryhound's second album entitled "Leave It Alone" was released on November 2o, 2009. I picked it up at HMV last week and have been listening to it ever since. Unlike their debut album "Gloryhound and the Skyhawks", this is a full-charged, fast paced heavy rock record. What used to be a band heavily influenced by Tom Petty & the Hearbreakers, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, and The Band, has been redirected to Iggy Pop and The Ramones. It is clear that Gloryhound has respectfully changed their genre, shying away from the "East Coast" label, and it looks like they finally found their groove. Just like their accelerated, high voltage live shows, "Leave It Alone" is the definition of "Rock n' Roll", and meant to be played loud. Produced by Robbie Crowell, the record was recorded in the Halifax, Nova Scotia and was tracked in the Sonic Temple and the Echo Chamber. The band sent their record to New York where it was mastered by Fred Kevorkian (White Stripes, Iggy Pop, Willie Nelson).
As much as I miss the old sound, it's nice to see this hometown band's sound grow and mature.

Beware the hound,
-Brendan

Seriously

Hello one and all!
I started a new semester at school which means new classes! I have Film and Video Production 12, Math 12, and Drama 12. In film and video we get to do a film review every week so I thought I'd share this review I did of the newest Coen brothers film A Serious Man So enjoy!

A Serious Man is the newest film by the Coen brothers. The main character, Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a small university. Larry doesn't have much going for him at this point in his life. His wife is leaving him, his son has disipline issues, his daughter sneaks money from him to save for a “nose job” and his brother who consistantly becomes more and more of a burden is living at his house. On top of all that there is anonymous letter writter attempting to sabotage his chances of getting tenure at his university, and did I mention there is a student attempting to bribe him for a passing mark? Larry throught the movie goes to three differant rabbis to seek an answer as too why it is all happening to him and how he can become a rightous person.

I thought that this movie was yet another masterpeice in a long line of Coen brothers classics. The story was very well written and you were immediately engulfed by it as soon as you heard Jefferson Airplane playing at the beginning.

The movie is a very dark comedy so to an average viewer they may just watch this movie and see a sad story about a man who appears to have absolutley nothing going for him. Although I also saw the sad in this movie there was a number of scenes which I laughed out loud at, like the scene where the father of the son who tried to bribe Larry shows up at his house bumping his fists together reapeating the phrase “culture clash” in a heavy east asian accent. Or when Larry's son calls to complain about F-Troop not having good reception on the TV which leads to a scene where Larry learns there is an anonymous letter writer threatening his chances at tenure at which point he recieves another call from his son which Larry answers with “Is it F-troop again!?” in an extremely distressed voice. It's moments of dark, dry humour like this (which I could never possibly do justice by explaining in print) that makes this move so genious.

It was a movie of subtleties, whether it was subtleties in facial expressions or tone of voice the actors in the film did an phenominal job in potraying these little things which made the very real, very raw human emotion in the film. Another aspect of the film I enjoyed was the simplicity of the shots. There were very few shots where the camera moved. The colours in the film were also very pale and dull. Those two aspects gave the movie a very minimalistic feel which I think mirrored the plot.

The only negative points in this movie are mere matters of opinion. For example if you are the kind of person who enjoys moives that make perfect sence when taken at face value you would not like this movie. It is very dry, subtle, slow, and dark upfront but when you start to scratch at the surface you see the humour, life and reality that can make this movie such a peice of art for viewers like me.

Personally I found Larry to be very identifiable with. Although I have never been through the struggles he went through in the film I feel like his reactions to his situations were very real and were reactions that I think I would share if put in his situation.

I think that the Coen brothers were doing what they do best in this movie which was showing raw human behavior. Although the plot was somewhat far fetched (as it is in many Coen brother films) it was a great representation of human emotion and human reactions to such extreme emotional situations. I think they did a great job of showing it in this film and I hope to see it again in their up coming film due to be out in 2011

Overall I give this movie two huge thumbs up and recommend it for film buffs and anyone who likes movies that take a little bit of thinking.

Seriously yours,
Grant M. Hawkins

Halifax Music Scene (everybody knows this isn't nowhere)

The other day I was reading The Coast and came across an article called "Decade in review; music scene not a machine". It caught my eye because it talks all about Halifax's music scene. As you may know, I am an avid music fan, especially when it comes to local talent. The article begins talking about the "post 90's" era, when Halifax was being called "the next Seattle". While many good bands came out of this city in the 90's, (Sloan, Thrush Hermit, The Guthries...) and although Halifax did not quite live up to the hype, it still developed to become the happening spot for music goers it is today, opening doors for many other genres such as blues, R&b, jazz and hip-hop. The article gives very good reasons to why Halifax has what it takes to develop such a name for itself in Canadian music. First of all, Halifax is home to many universities, giving it a very high population of students, and students seem to give the city a very 'arts appreciative vibe'. Second, Halifax has a lack of bands stop here on their tours compared to other big cities, and so this only adds to our propensity to entertain ourselves. Halifax has many music festivals including Halifax Pop Explosion and In The Dead Of Winter, and very supportive radio stations like the CBC and CDKU. The Halifax music scene wouldn't be complete without talking about the venues, The Marquee has been the home to many bands such as Matt Mays & El Torpedo , and Joel Plaskett Emergency for years until it's closure in January of '09, and of course the legendary Seahorse tavern has been around since 1948 and is still rocking today.

I don't really know where i'm going with this post, but I'd just like to say that in an age of auto-tune, and where "good music" is a dieing breed, it's nice knowing that my home town is still going strong.

keep on rocking in the free world.

Brendan

10 years ago.

Holy cow it's almost 2010. That though came to me the other day when sitting in class, and it got me thinking... We're nearly a decade into the new millennium crazy thought isn't it? in the year 2000 I was eight years old in grade 2. Now I'm 17 in grade 12 Time sure does fly.

It's crazy to think how much the world has changed in only 10 years. With the huge advancements in technology, especially the internet (Google, youtube, Twitter, Facebook Myspace), major political events (Obama being elected, 9/11, The wars in the middle east) and so many more major events. All of that and it's barely scratching the tip of the iceberg in terms of what happened in the last ten years. I did so much in the last ten years as well. I started competing in gymnastics which took me too every province but Manitoba, one territory, and of course Japan. I went through many fads like Pokemon, YuGiOh, Harry Potter, video games, neopets and countless changes in music tastes.

In the end I think what makes these last ten years so important to me is that this is the decade I grew up in. I entered the millennium 7 and I'm going to leave it 18. So even though I was born in the early 90's I really am a child of the 2000's. This is the decade that I'll never forget, heck I'm graduating in 2010 so I'll be invited to high school reunions which will remind me of this decade and all the things that happened to me and to the world. and living through these amazing times.I hope to one day tell my grand kids or even great grand kids judging by medical technology about what it was like in the early 2000's

Writing to you live from the year 2009
-Grant

New Blog Post(er)

-Brendan

Don't Trust Your Photographs

I purchased the self-titled album by Fleet Foxes on December 27th 2008. I had never heard of them before and was very intrigued by the album cover. It grew on me, becoming one of my favorite albums of the year. It wasn't until eight months later, when my comrade Grant bought the album on vinyl that I was shown the liner notes written by Robin Pecknold and Skyler Skjelset. This is some of what they wrote; (please read this in it's entire)

"My first memory has always been of me and my mom on a cold grey day down at some beach in Washington, along the puget sound somewhere near Seattle. I would be around two or three years old and we're with a friend of mine from the neighborhood and his mom. Walking around among the driftwood looking for crabs. Even now, I can remember the smell and temperature of the air, the feeling of the sand and the swaying tall grass I can even remember looking over at my friend and how his face looked when he smiled back at me Another memory that I'll sometimes recall as my first memory is dressing up in the dead of winter as Jack London with tennis rackets on my feet and wearing my dad's hiking pack, in the middle of summer after seeing Disney's (terrible) version of White Fang. or There's the memory of stealing my neighbor's big wheel and riding it halfway down the block before getting caught and having to turn around defeated, or of wearing a fireman's outfit while washing my parent's car, or eating an orange popsicle from the ice cream truck.

These are and have always been some of my most distinct and persistent memories of childhood, so i came as a disappointment to me when one day as a teenager I opened up a photo album and found pictures of each and every one of those memories. I didn't have a single memory that didn't belong to or somehow grow from pictures my parents had taken of me when I was growing up even the scenes I remember so clearly in my head are from the same angles as those photographs and I don't really know what to to make of it. I'm going to guess that I'd seen all theses photographs at some point, forgotten they were just photographs and over time made them into my most tangible memories. That's scary to me in a way.

This leads me to something weird about the power music has, it's transportative ability. Any time I hear a song or record that meant a lot to me at a certain moment or I was listening to at a distinct time, I'm instantly taken back to that place in full detail..."

I can't describe to you how relevant Pecknold's thoughts are to my own. He goes on to explain in detail how music is like a 'time machine' that can deliver both memories and emotions. For eight months I've lived with these notes in my possession and i had just disregarded it for just a brown paper sleeve that held the Cd. I want to thank Grant for showing this to me.

Song recommendation: "These Days" - Nico http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_z_UEuEMAo

go make some memories,

-Brendan

We Are Your Friends

Hello one and all. How are you? I'm good.

I'm bored so I figure I'll do a spontaneous blog post and see what I end up talking about.

I got this new job coaching gymnastics that I briefly mentioned in my last post. let me tell you something about this job... It rocks. I quit gymnastics in March and honestly I didn't really miss it that much. Then I got a job at Sobeys and I absolutely hated it with all of my being. Luckily I got offered a job to coach and I took it as soon as I could. I've been coaching since September now and I love it. I have a group of four, an 11 year old, two 12 year old's and a 13 year old. They are all pretty well behaved and that's a really small group so it's easy to handle. I still enjoy the sport I just hated to do it, so now I can still be involved in it and get payed for it! Too imagine what it's like to have my job, picture getting payed to tell kids what to do and be interested in the activities you're telling them to do. It is pretty mint.

In other news I've bought some more music but I'm trying to cut down. It's hard though cause I'm addicted. Since the last post I've bought By The Way by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ummagumma by Pink Floyd, and Magic Potion and Fleet Foxes on vinyl. I'm trying to save my money because a me and a friend agreed a few years back that the next time the Red Hot Chili Peppers go on tour we'd go see them at the closest place to Halifax. (This could be soon because they just went back into the studio to make a new album!) So even though I'm saving, I'm still saving for music. (which I don't have a problem with but the parents would probably like to see it go to something like school) I've also been getting into a band called Justice they're pretty sick a friend of mine lent me their debut CD and their live album both of which are awesome.

Thats about all for now. I'm trying to think of something deep for my next post cause I haven't really made a thought provoking post in a long time and I'm well due for one.

Music's got me feelin' so free.
-Grant

Song Recommendation: D.A.N.C.E. by Justice It's a very feel good dance song

Two Coasts for Comfort

Two Coasts for Comfort by Jon Bryant is set to be released on October 28th 2009. The clever name comes from the "Two Coasts" where Jon wrote his songs, (Europe, and here in Nova Scotia). Jon's music is melodically soulful and rich in comfort and deep thought. His Folk roots are entwined with a hint of alternative-rock with inspirations from Dallas Green to Radiohead. A while back I got a call from him, asking me if I wanted to "make sweet music". I packed up my drums and met him at The Open Gate along with fellow musicians Michael Sheldon and Jerry Albert. Since then we have jammed from time to time and I have accompanied him in playing at Fall River chapel. It is amazing how much musical talent comes out of my home town. I feel blessed to be a part of the scene and hopefully one day have my own record to release.

If you want to learn more about the album and Jon, here is an excellent video made by Luke Adamski http://vimeo.com/6977850

Do what you love

-Brendan

Music from Highway Six De Da

it's been a while I know.

Time for a big music update. I have a job now so that means lots of new music anytime I can make it out to the mall. First off is my new records; Highway 61 Revisited, Music from Big Pink, and LaDeDa. Highway 61 is one of my favorite Dylan albums with maybe my favorite Dylan song Like a Rolling Stone plus 8 other great tracks. Music From Big Pink is a classic album by the Band with the Weight and I Shall Be Released being the most notable tracks but of course the rest of them are awesome too. LaDeDa is by the local wonder kid Joel Plaskett. LaDeDa is definitely one of my favorite albums by him it's got this nice acoustic sound with a couple of almost computerized sounding tracks thrown in very discreetly so that you wouldn't notice unless you were listening very closely. It also has a very Canadian feel to it I find.
Now those three vinyl records aren't all I've bought. I've also stopped into HMV and picked up a couple CD's; Pinkerton by Weezer (I actually got at Wal-Mart), Rubber Factory and Chulahoma by the Black Keys, Mothers Milk and Californiacation by the Red Hot Chili Peppers Keep it Hid by Dan Auerbach, Ghetto Pop Life by Danger Mouse and Jemini, Do You Want More?!!!??! by The Roots, Funeral by The Arcade Fire, Obscured by Clouds by Pink Floyd, Enter The Wu-Tang by the Wu-Tang Clan, Set Yourself on Fire by Stars and Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan. I also got The Last Waltz on blu-ray and The Office season 4 on DVD. So as you can see when I'm given a steady paycheck this is how I spend it. I'd go through and talk about all those CDs but I haven't got a chance to listen thoroughly to all of them yet but the ones I have heard are spectacular.
Other than that I've been pretty busy with school, my new job coaching gymnastics and students council. Listening to music has practically become a part time job though with all the new music I have now.

That's all I can think to say for now I'll hopefully try to post more often but you know me

Be nice
-Grant

PS: Revenge is like ice cream it's sweet and best served cold.

Don't criticize what you can't understand.

Chronicles volume one, is a window into the mind of Bob Dylan, his thoughts and influences. Written by the great man himself, he is able to take you back to a simple time. Dylan gives an in depth look at his early life as a folk-singer living in Greenwich village. The detail given to simple situations could only have come from Bob. He is able to recollect moments from his past and paint a picture of words so clearly, it is as if you were there. Surprisingly Dylan does not cover his most 'prolific' years. Skipping over them to focus more on a less known and unappreciative time of his life. Just like his songs, Dylan's extraordinary talent of telling a story allows you to never tire of what he has to say. It is written very relaxed, as if you are sitting down and having a conversation with him. Chronicles allows the reader to dig deep into the thoughts of a man that has been such an inexplicable character throughout the years. This is the most personal and detailed autobiography I have read to date, and I will be first in line to purchase a copy of Chronicles volume Two when it is released.

Song reccomendation; "He Was a Friend of Mine" - Bob Dylan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak4_gP4Qj1k&feature=PlayList&p=179487017787F258&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=5

Have a good one,

Brendan

Ain't it just like dyin'? 'Cept you can still feel the shame.

*insert cliche reason why I haven't posted in forever here*
Hey y'all how are things? I hope they are nice and easy. I've been working a lot lately. whether it's at SobeyS or at the gym or at the school. Sobeys sucks pretty hard but hopefully if things work out at the gym (I'm trying to get a job coaching gymnastics) I won't be there much longer. As for the school things have been going pretty good. other then a few technicalities it's all been moving pretty smoothly. Now that I've been working I've realized how much I really need to find a job that I love to do. I've been nothing but miserable knowing that I'm selling my time. Everyone has told me that it gets better after you get your first paycheck but I still feel pretty shitty even though I finally have money to spend. (and I've been spending it well) I think it all comes back to my weird fear of time elapsing. I hate thinking of the time I'll never get back and when I'm at work that's all there is to think about. All I can think of is if my time is worth the 8.60 they're giving me an hour. I feel like money and my time aren't even on the same scale when it comes to worth, my time on one hand is something I'll never get back, on the other hand without money it's all I have. Weird how that works I guess. Without money I have no material goods, no home, no food, nothing.... Nothing but time... Time that can be exchanged for money but without time you have even less.
Maybe I just don't fit in in this world. At least I got Music and Love and I'm working on Peace

Thanks for reading
-Grant

PS: I hate to get political but seriously America gear down Obama is just trying out the poor and you're comparing him to Hitler? Helping the poor... Where have I heard that before?

Song Recommendation: I Want You -Bob Dylan

GreenFest 09'

About a week ago I received a call from my longtime friend Mo Kenney. She asked me to accompany her and her band "Berend's Pages" at a three day long Environmental Awareness Festival of Arts simply known as the "GreenFest". I of course accepted the invitation and started rehearsing with them right away. We practiced at "Shambhala Studios" in downtown Halifax, a very 'chill' loft filled with records, books, instruments and everything music.

We drove down an old dirt road until we reached an old farm with about a 200 acre field filled with tents, hippies, horses, and I think there was a Gypsy. We spent the day listening to music and playing music outside of the tents. We also kicked it back in the 'green room' where we beat the heat. The green room was a room for the performers in an old farm house with old couches, fresh fruit, and free beer. Because of the chance of a hurricane, the main stage had to be relocated causing the schedule to become chaotic. We didn't get on until 10:00, which was actually a good thing because the crowd grew in size as the night went on. We ended up opening for Juno nominee and 15 time ECMA winner Lennie Gallant. All in all, I met some great people, heard some great music, and had a great time. I will be there next year and I hope to see you to.

The picture above is from the Greenfest. Taken by Rachel Shrum on Polaroid.

Here is a link to Berend's Pages MySpace http://www.myspace.com/mokenney

and here is a link to GreenFest http://www.thegreenfestival.ca/

Have a great last week of summer.

- Brendan

Ban Your Rays

So I wanted to buy a pair of RayBan Wayfarers to pay homage to some of my heroes, Bob Dylan, John F. Kennedy, John Belushi, Roy Orbison and Andy Warhol. Who were all famous for wearing the iconic metal framed sunglasses. The only problem is that a certain group of adolescence have adopted the trend by wearing bright and colourful cheap knockoffs to express their "artistic" and "ungovernable" state of rebellious youth. These people are known as "Hipsters". You may confuse them with their sister group the "Emos" however, a hipster will be more colorful. I would have no problem with this group of people if they stood for something. But really, they are just feeding into this trend of false-appreciation for the arts. If i go out and purchase my RayBans I will be seen as just another hipster. When really that is clearly not the case. Just like the Emos have stolen the once respectable "Chuck Taylor" style Converse sneakers. The hipsters are stealing the once iconic metal framed eye-wear. You can not walk down the mall without seeing colorful plastic knockoffs being sold everywhere.

I do not want to sound hateful, because that would be very "un-dude" of me. I am only reinforcing for our youth to think for themselves, wear clothes that fit, and love one another.

Song Reccomendation: "Mountains of the Moon" - Grateful Dead

Do what you love,

-Brendan

it's been too long

Hey all. It's been way to long since my last blog post mostly due to the lack of anything interesting enough to write a whole blog post about. So I'll just list a few things that have happened/are going to happen/I have done since my last blog post.

-I got a job at Sobeys most likely pushing carts and cleaning. It starts on the tenth

- I got the New Wilco album/Yankee Hotel Foxtrot on 180 gram vinyl they both are awesome (YHF came with a free CD version of the album)

-my Wisdom teeth are coming out on the 14th of August right in the middle of me being busy with a new job/students council stuff

-I have a new found appreciation for Is This It? by The Strokes

-I watched seasons 1 & 2 of Scrubs I love it and I'm working on getting season 3

-I'm planning on going on a road trip soon with my fellow blogger and a good friend of ours it should be good. I'm expecting great times, tunes and people

-I heard In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson for the first time and I love it

-I renewed my love for Mario Kart.

I'd say that's about all that's happened in the last little while. I wish I had more to blog about but as you can see I've had a bit of a writers block in term of interesting things to blog about.
I leave you with this one question. How do you get a stereo sound out of a record? What is it in the record that can decide which sounds come out of which speakers?

-Grant Hawkins
Resident Unmotivated Blogger

Consistency

I take comfort in consistency. In this crazy world we live in, it nice knowing that somethings will always be there, just doing their thing. I like radios, when I was younger I had a transistor radio that i would listen to as I would fall asleep. It didn't matter what was going on in my own life, the radio always stayed the same. Keeping me company, buzzing and humming the current events. I take peace in simple things like that. In the town I live in, there is a Tim Hortons. This Tim Hortons is open twenty-four hours a day. I can't tell you how many times I've stumbled my way into it at 2:00 in the morning. It's nice knowing that it is always open, always there to provide shelter and coffee. I don't really know my neighbors across the street, all i know is that they watch T.V, and a lot of it. My window faces there house and every night as I'm going to bed I see the familiar glow of their television set. It doesn't matter what time I go to bed, it's always on, and it brings a smile to my face, knowing that I can always look out and see a hazy coloured image of something on their screen. I guess what I'm trying to say is that routine and consistency fills me with the feeling of comfort.

Song Recommendation: "Bobcaygeon" - The Tragically Hip

Take enjoyment in the simple things in life.

-Brendan

Another (Belated) One Year Anniversary

As you know the blog recently had it's year Anniversary but that's not the only one that's happened recently. On the 7th of July (A little late I know) it was also the one year anniversary of my beautiful girlfriend and I. This last year has had it's ups and downs for us (Mostly ups) but we go great together and that's all that matters. we've had a fun year full of playing video games, playing on the trampoline, watching movies, and the occasional geeking out over Star Wars. I just have to say that it's been one of the best years of my life and here's to many many more. :)

I love you babe <3

-Grant

When my train comes in

Hello all, it's been a while. Last week I got my wisdom teeth out, which put me on the sidelines for about a week. I'm just now starting to enjoy solid foods again. Summer is finally here, and what better way to kick it off than with a night of Joel Plaskett and fireworks. Alderney Landing filled up with 'lazy bones' and 'fashionable people' to celebrate Canada's birthday. It was a great show through and through... and through. In six days Joel will be opening for one of the most influential musicians in the world, Paul McCartney! *Que audience applause* That will be a great show, unfortunately, I will not be there because I don't have the money. *Que audience disappointing Aaah*

On another note, Wilco just released their latest album entitled "Wilco (the album)". This album covers all of the wide genres of past Wilco albums. Jeff Tweedy and the band seem more relaxed and comfortable with the sound. With collaborations with Canada's own Leslie Feist on "You and I", and the Dylan inspired "Country Disappeared" to the experimental sonic fusion on "Bull Black Nova". My rating: I give this album a thumbs up and two smiley face stickers.

Artist recommendation: Adam Baldwin http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adam-Baldwin/87649677491?ref=ts

Have lazy day

- Brendan

Happy Birthday!

Well it's been a whole year since the very first post on Crazy Chester and the Old Fashioned Sugar. We've laughed, cried and maybe even bled depending on whether or not you took Brendan's advice on public bathrooms, oh so long ago. In the last year our fan base went from 0 too about 10ish completely by word of mouth and we're hoping to get 10 more for next year! Me and Brendan have covered everything from strange philosophies on life to Christmas to Neil Young to a whole bunch of music reviews this year and plan on keeping that up and more.
So the next big question is "where is CCatOFS going to be in another year?" well, Brendan and I will be seniors at Lockview High next year and we'll both be turning 18 near the end of 2010 which means we'll be able to vote here in Nova Scotia. I'll be Co-Prez of Students Council which will make me busy but I will try to post at a more regular rate. Also I'm hoping to get some sort of group together to jam with/do little shows with and maybe get into making some short films. If any of that happens I'll be sure to keep all you guys posted on it.
That's all I got to say I think... Here's to one year of the Olde Shug! I hope to see all you guys (and maybe some new comers) here this time next year!

Happy B-day Crazy Chester and the Old Fashioned Sugar!

-Grant

PS: Brendan got his wisdom teeth removed that's why he hasn't been posting lately

RIP King of Pop

As a aspiring musician there is a part of me who feels obliged to honor the late Micheal Jackson because he is just one of those legends who really changed the game for everyone. His Thriller album is the best selling album of all time and I'm not afraid to admit that I have a copy of my own. For someone like my self who is only 16 I grew up in a time where the only time I ever heard Micheal's name was when he was on trial and when Neverland was shut down so I always had the "look at how crazy he is now" side of the story and it took me a while before I really realised what he had done and how he influenced almost the whole world. I hope now that he will be remembered for his music and not the weirder things that he was know for when I was growing up.

RIP Micheal you're the King

-Grant

PS: Enjoy

Danger! Mouse!

Brian Burton AKA Danger Mouse is a producer that I'm a huge fan of, so I was pleasently surprised when I heard about his new album. But this isn't just any regular album... It's a blank CD-R. I know you're all thinking how could he release a blank CD and expect it to sell? Well here's the story; Mr. Mouse has gotten into arguments with the label EMI and so he won't release the actual music for fear of getting his ass sued off the planet. so he's just going to release a blank CD with a 100+ booklet with original photo's by David Lynch (who is on the album) that are inspired by the music. My first question was what about the music? Is he just going to forget about it and never let it see the light of day? No. According to the website "Danger Mouse remains highly proud of Dark Night of the Soul and hopes that people that are lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are excited as he is." now upon first reading that just seems that only select people will be able to hear it but if you read it again it says "by whatever means" Now on all the articles I've read on the story this is essentially Danger Mouse saying "I want people to hear this so I don't even care if you download it." very formally, and to that I say kudos Danger Mouse! You are a great example of the music being more important then the money and I respect that a lot. Personally I have already found a torrent for the album (It's incredible) and plan on buying a copy as soon as I get a job and the money to pay for it. I think that if you love music you should pick up a copy of the CD and download the tracks just to support the idea of music over money.

So now that I'm done talking about Dark Night of the Soul I'd also like to mention that I never realized it until recently but Danger Mouse is in a lot of my favorite albums. He produced Attack and Release which is my favorite Black Keys album he also produced Demon Days by the Gorillaz which is awesome and even Beck's new CD. He also teamed up with MF DOOM to make DANGERDOOM and made one of my favorite hip hop albums, The Mouse and the Mask. He's half of Gnarls Barkley and last but certainly not least he mashed up Jay-Z Black album and the Beatles White album to make the Gray Album which is incredible!

So now that I'm done writing about being obsessed with Danger Mouse I will sign off

It's not just good it's great depression.

-Grant

PS I would have no idea on where to find a torrent for that album *cough*.*cough

Change

Change is always happening. We can't stop it. We can only learn to deal with it, make the best of the situations we are presented with. Lately I have been seeing a lot of changes going on, in my own life and the lives around me. I'm not one who likes change, hell... I don't think anyone does. I'm to focused on living in the past. Reminiscing on better times when everything seemed so simple. Of course, at the time, you never know how simple it really is. So years from now I can look back and think about how simple things were right now. It's all perspective. I guess that is what keeps me sane.

“Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted.”

Song Recommendation: "I Feel A Change Comin' On" - Bob Dylan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94n39Gc652g

-Brendan

Highly Illogical

I consider my dad to be a fairly wise man. He's full of so many sayings, quotes and stories with strong morals that too the untrained ear he sounds like he's talking in riddles. Although he's passed all his knowledge and sayings down too me there was always a few stories my dad told me that seemed out of place. For you see my dad as a kid/teen was a fan of the adventures of the United Star Ship Enterprise. That's right... Star Trek. Now as a kid I always saw Star Trek as the nerdiest thing and I usually ignored those stories, but there was one in particular that I always thought was a great story anyway. It was a particular episode where the Enterprise comes in contact with a planet that had been engaged in a massive war and there were only two survivors. The survivors were on opposite sides so as you can imagine they get in a bit of a scuffle on the bridge. One of the survivors (Note: These guys were both white on one side and black on the other) was claiming that the other should be arrested and was obviously "inferior" the crew of the Enterprise was confused about why he was inferior. So after a while of trying to get them to see why he was so inferior he points out that their sides are inverted. (one has the black side on the left the other has black on the right) I always thought this was a great story about how we're all the same and that we need to put aside our minor differences. This story was especially moving because the episode would have been released around '69 where racial issues would have been an issue still.
Now that I'm older, with the help of my dad and the kick start of seeing the new Star Trek movie I began watching the original series. This not only taught me why my dad talks the way he does (weird Shatner like pauses and all) but I've also learned that they make a lot of commentary on their own culture. In one episode the Enterprise gets flung back in time to the '60's and they beam aboard a fighter pilot who is stunned at women on the deck. This is interesting because since the Enterprise is in the 60's they are in the time period that the episode would have been written making it a direct commentary on the treatment of women in that time. Also Lieutenant Uhura (the head communications officer) was played by Nichelle Nichols who was an African American woman which was a double whammy for it's time.

Live Long and Prosper
-Grant Hawkins

Song Recommendation: Fearless by Pink Floyd. I had the time of my life laying on the floor of my room listening to this on my dad's old record player (No, I was not Inebriated)

Autumn's sweet but we call it fall, I'll make it to the moon if I have to crawl

well Brendan put it best. We are unmotivated. So now I'm here feeling bad about not posting in forever and trying to squeeze something out to say.
Well lets see... I went to Joel Plaskett last week and it was incredible. He had the girls that sang back up on Three to add a new vibe to some old songs and do what they do on the tracks from Three. Also I watched the Big Lebowski like 10 times which is still the greatest movie ever just in case you didn't know. I also got the new Doom album Born Like This and I'm listening to it right now and it's the bomb. Aaannnd I've been helping out with student council activities at the school now that I'm co-president elect it's making council next year look pretty promising. I haven't been doing much else really... The only thing I'm really motivated to do right now is get my record player fixed. The automatic thing that controls the needle is off so it cuts off to early so I miss the end of the last song on most records which is a real pain since I just got a nice 7" with three unreleased tracks from the Joel Plaskett concert and I can only listen to one full song and the other two cut too early.
I guess that's all for me... I like Brendan's little song recommendation thing so I'll do one too

Listening Recommendation: Doom (formerly known as MF Doom) Born Like This

Keep it easy dude.. I know you will
-Grant Hawkins

Motive-nation

It has been about twenty-two days since my last post. Andy every one of those days bloggin has crossed my mind. From time to time I would check the old blog, see if my compadré has written about his life lately but sure enough no post since May 8th. "Why?" You may ask. Well because of MOTIVATION! (I thought the caps would emphasise... but it kinda makes me sound like a tool) Both Grant and myself are the least motivated people you will ever meet. I can not even imagine what we could do if we tried (mostly because imagining takes effort) It is our duty as Internet celebrities/Heroes to keep our audience entertained. And we have failed... again. It has almost been an entire year sense Grant and I finally decided to get off our ass and startedwriting our thoughts down... well i guess we didn't even have to get off our asses, we sat down at the computer. If you Google "theoldshug" The first six links are to our site, right after "Did you mean: theoldscout" If that isn't fame than I don't know the definition of the word.

 Today is also the first day of June, that's cool... or not cool, it depends if you're taking that literally. 

 Music is still a big part of my life, I have been playing a lot more lately. Hauling my drums around is a pain in the ass, which is why I like to play harmonica. I've been playing with a lot of different people lately, it is important for a musician to play with a wide variety of people, change things up a bit. I have decided to move on with my musical-ness and start writing/making my own music again. This is due to MOTIVATION (It's the word of the day)

Song recommendation: "Sitting" - Cat Stevens

 Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be. 

 - Brendan

Dear ghost of brendan's past...

Please read the link posted before reading this post...

http://theoldshug.blogspot.com/2009/01/beginning-of-beginning-of-end-of.html

 

To my past-self: This is your Future-Self talking. Congratulations on not dieing in the 109 days from when you/I posted that. Not much has happened in the last 3 and a half months. The new semester is pretty good. I got my drivers license, and got a few haircuts and have learned a lot about myself. Here are some tips from the future that may help you out: 

• Don't eat the chip-dip in the fridge. It has expired.
• Don't slack off in Math and Bio class. This is very important.
• Try and get tickets to the April Neil Young concert. (you will regret not going)
• Don't kiss any pigs from Mexico.
• Two of your favourite T.V shows are now off the air so enjoy them while they last.
• Sign Up for Twitter now so you can say to everyone "I had Twitter before it was cool to have Twitter"
• If you are going to make sports bets than bet on the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the super bowl.

Yeah, the last 3 months have been pretty darn good. I can't complain. It's funny how so little can change in a long period of time and then in an instant your world can be turned upside-down. This may have been a weird post and hard to follow. But it has given me a chance to reflect on my own life.

Song recommendation: "The Past" - Matt Mays

"May the dreams of your past be the reality of your future"

-Brendan

What a Day.

Over the last few days there have been 2 or 3 school riots in the area which all occurred after the fire alarm had been pulled. So today everyone was kinda on edge thinking it might happen at my school. And it almost did.
This morning started off just like any other except there was an announcement made during first class that said "there have been riots at such and such a school. Don't pull the fire alarm its a crime blah blah blah" so I lean over to my friend sitting next to me and say "he's only giving them ideas" and as I had predicted about half an hour into class the fire alarm goes off so we all walk outside into the cold damp parking lot. Everyone is standing around talking about how someone probably just wanted a riot at our school or thought it would be funny and whatever. After standing outside for about 45 minutes we realized something was up and it wasn't just some dumb kid. At this point it's raining and there's a firetruck and five or more police cars. We are then informed that half the people have to go to the junior high down the street and the other half go to the elementary school. so off we went approx. 1400 kids walking down a single sidewalk to the nearest schools. my half finally arrives at the junior high where after waiting another while longer we need to let the school know where we're going because from 9 to 4 we are the schools responsibility so we line up do a attendance thing and sign a sheet of loose leaf letting them know that we are going home. Me, my brother, my sister, and my girlfriend decide to go to my home since it's the closest so we head back to the school where we realize we can't get in my brothers car cause the whole school is sealed off so we walk all the way to my home in the poring rain.
I've now been informed that a 19 year old student walked into the office and said he was going to blow the place up which is what led to the fire alarm being pulled. This guy has been arrested and is under investigation.
Moral of the story: Don't do stupid things like that because if anyone finds out who you are there are 1400 kids ready to kick your ass for making us stand in the cold rain for that long

Think
-Grant Hawkins

Wishful Thinking

• I wish I could play the guitar. Not even very well... just good enough. Good enough to pick it up and strum a few chords that friends can sing-a-long to at a bonfire.
  
• I wish I was rich. Not for reasons you might think. I wish I was rich so I could focus on more important things in life than making money. I would not buy expensive material things, I would just have it so i would not have to make it. Does that make any sense?
  
• I wish everyone in the world listened to the words of Gandhi, and listened to the songs of Bob Dylan.
• I wish I made movies. Clever ones, with good soundtracks and meaningful messages.
• I wish I had a sweet tree-house. Like the Swiss Family Robinson one.
• I wish Hitchhiking was not frowned upon.
• I wish I lived at Big Pink, up in the mountains of Woodstock in 1968. That would be the life.
• I wish Winter was shorter.
• I wish I had better social skills.
• I wish I had better grades without putting any effort in.
• I wish for World Peace. But then what would we complain about?
• I wish I had some more things to type.

Iced Caps taste good. I had one the other day. My first of the new year. I drank them all last summer. and in that first sip all of the good memories from last summer came rushing back, as if they had been frozen in time and forgotten about all winter long until I unlocked them with a sip of my frozen caffeine beverage. 

Song recommendation; "Jolene" Ray LaMontagne

 'May your mushrooms always be sauteed and your onions always be grilled'

 -Brendan